To the Land of Green

Chapter One

Bullets fly everywhere—left and right. My sister, Rosalinda, my brother, Juan, run to an abandoned building. It is a big building with windows on top and the whole area is painted gray. Looking to the left of the building, there is a playground made with wood. As I look closer, I see a tree has been cut. Why would anyone cut trees in half? I think that nature is something to be cherished and loved, especially now in this state. With how our environment is today we need more trees.

Looking at the building again Juan, Rosalinda, and I enter. As we enter the building, we hear rats and cockroaches roaming the halls. There's a front desk to the left side of the building. Papers and chairs are scattered everywhere. On the right side, picture frames and paintings are on top of the wall. As I look closer to the frames, two guys with their comrades stand stark still, wearing the oldest clothing I have seen.

My siblings and I decide to try the second floor. Instead of using the elevator, we use the stairs. We think it will be the safest option. The stairs are dirty. Dusty footprints can be seen on the steps. The stairway doesn't seem stable. I'm not surprised after what everyone here has experienced.

Moving on, we reach the second floor. Plastic bottles and cans are everywhere. It smells too. I pinch my nose.

"Marina, you know how it is," Rosalinda says. "Yeah, just give me a second," I reply.

I give Rosalinda Ractro and wait. Scanning the hallway, Rosalinda throws Ractro. Ractro is round, all black but with highlights of neon green on the side like a basketball, but smaller. We found Ractro a year ago in another abandoned building. I think the room we were in was the room of a Robotic Engineer. As Rosalinda throws Ractro, he turns into a cute small robot, like what is usually seen on a show called Pokemon. But if you get off the wrong side of Ractro, it will be bad. He has a lot of superpowers and one of them is scanning.

Ractro starts scanning the hallway and points with his red laser to the safest room. The room is on the right side thirty feet away from where we are standing. As we get near the room, Ractro breaks the doorknob using his green laser.

As we enter one of the rooms, picture frames on the right side of the wall are hung. It shows a young couple. If you see the picture it looks like a loving young couple but if you look closer the lady seems sad and drained. She is beautiful. She has a dimple on her cheek, a small mole on her nose, and as I look closer, I see she has a scar over her left eyebrow. I wonder what happened to give her that scar. Moving forward, there is a table with the Virgin Mary resting on it. There's also a current calendar hanging on the wall. It shows the year 2059 which means that it has not been that long since the couple stayed here.

Going deep inside the room, an L-shaped couch with square pillows faces a flat-screen television. Behind the couch, the entry to the kitchen can be seen. It is neat and clean. I thought this was odd because other places we saw had a lot of damage. Opening the cabinets, I find snacks and cans of food. Below the sink, to the left side, there were three unopened thirty pound bags of rice. On the right side of the sink is a big refrigerator. When I open the refrigerator, I notice rotting vegetables and fruit. The left side of the refrigerator is filled with milk, eggs,

sauces, butter, and seasonings. Opening the right side of the refrigerator, I see meat, and seafood such as fish, clams, and more.

"Guys, look at this," I say.

"Wow," says Juan and Rosalinda.

"The owner must have been rich to have this much food," says Juan.

"Yeah. They must have been wealthy because not many people can afford to buy all of this food, especially these," Rosalinda says, pointing at the seafood.